In Pursuit of Happiness
by ammeg-gemma
Summary: Set during season four, as an alternative to New York. Regina and Emma go to Las Vegas in search of Robin, only to find themselves back in Storybrooke, with a bigger issue on their hands... Warning, this may turn into a crack fic after about two chapters


**I'm guessing you guys came here to read the fanfiction, not to get bored by some ridiculously long author's note, so I'll keep it short. This is my first fanfiction for Swan Queen, and I'm really excited to share it with you! I'm not sure how long it will be between updates, but I'm thinking a week at most. Any feedback or ideas are welcome, feel free to talk to me on twitter or tumblr! My twitters are ammeg_gemma and agent_swanqueen, and my tumblr is swanqueensslag.**

It was 4pm on a summer Friday, and Regina Mills had just finished her final meeting with the town council for the week. As soon as she had returned to the safety of her office, she slumped into her chair and kicked off her six inch heels, content that she had survived the day and would no longer be hassled by the moronic citizens of her town. Noticing that she only had an hour left until she was due to clock out of the office for the weekend, Regina decided that she would clean it up. Sure, she had cleaners, but sometimes she found it therapeutic and a distraction from the townsfolk that she often despised.

Just as she was dusting the highest shelf, the office door swung open and Emma dramatically burst in. "'Gina, you'll never guess what I've-" she trailed off, noticing that Regina was precariously balanced on a stepladder, standing on one foot.

"What are you doing? Have you not read the health and safety regulations for using ladders safely? Do you not know how dangerous they are? Did you not read that special section you wrote in the newsletter after the... incident?"

Regina turned around, directing a pointed glare at Emma. "Miss Swan, I, unlike others, am perfectly capable of using a ladder without falling off. May I politely remind you that the only reason that I added the article on ladder safety to the newsletter was because you fell off one last week?"

Emma blushed, suddenly finding the floor very interesting. While she had been able to cover up the majority of her bruises with her leather jacket, the graze on her hand was still noticeable, though not as obvious as the dent in her pride. In Emma's defence, she had only fallen off the ladder because she had become distracted by a commotion at Granny's, and as the sheriff, it was her job to be nosy.

"Anyway, what have you done this time that warrants you practically breaking into my office?"

There was no malice in Regina's tone, and Emma noted the change in the brunette's attitude since they had become more trusting of each other. She looked up from the floor, her confidence and positive tone from before restored.

"I was looking for Robin for you. And I found someone with his name and fitting his description. The good news is that he's still in America, so travel shouldn't exactly be an issue. I know you didn't want me to look for him, but you were so happy when you were with him that I just wanted to give that back to you again."

Regina sat down on the top of the stepladder, swinging her legs. "So you've... you've found him?"

Emma laughed, tucking a stray piece of hair behind her ear. "Um, yeah, otherwise I wouldn't have told you, would I? I'm like ninety nine percent sure that it's him, who else has a name like that?"

"That's great news," Regina laughed, smiling at the woman's honesty. "So where is he hiding out?"

"He's in Las Vegas, working at the casino in some fancy hotel. I think it's called the Bellagio?"

There was a momentary silence as Regina stopped her legs from swinging, and her jaw dropped open. "He's actually working at the Bellagio?" she reiterated, unsure as to whether she had heard Emma correctly. "That's one of the best hotels in Vegas, I've been meaning to take Henry on holiday there, only the sudden influx of villains has side tracked me from it". She paused before continuing. "Do you think that... that maybe we should go out there and talk to him? About this whole situation?"

Emma awkwardly scuffed the floor with her boot. "Regina, this is your happy ending, not mine. You don't need me to babysit you."

Regina sighed. "I suppose you're right, only I've never left Storybrooke in the thirty years that I've been here, and I'd be lying if I was to say that I didn't need the moral support."

"Well okay, I guess I'm coming with you then!"

The warmth in Emma's tone was obvious, and Regina was grateful that she understood. "I'll book the flights for as soon as possible."

...

One week later, Emma and Regina were checking into their room in the Bellagio hotel, which was not as easy as Regina had originally anticipated. They had both agreed that sharing a room with two single beds would be the most cost effective way, while still managing to be practical. However, the woman on the desk in the lobby was adamant that there were no more rooms of this description left, and the only two options were to either sleep in two separate single rooms, which would cost twice as much, or to share a double room.

"I just don't see why it costs so much more to get a second room; I'm a sheriff, not a millionaire," complained Emma.

The tanned woman behind the desk ran her eyes up Emma judgementally, before sighing. "I'm sorry sweetheart, but it's not my job to feel sympathy. Perhaps your girlfriend here will take pity on you?"

"She's not my-" Emma snorted, before being interrupted by Regina.

"Actually yes, we will take that double room, and at a discount due to the poor attitude you just displayed. Unless, of course, you would rather we take this further and speak to your manager."

The woman muttered a few choice words under her breath, before handing the key over to Regina, who tapped her pin code into the credit card machine.

...

"That was textbook," mused Emma on the walk up to the room. "But are you sure you don't mind sleeping with me? Not like 'sleeping with me' sleeping with me, but obviously nobody would ever mind doing that."

Regina let out a low chuckle as she scanned the room card across the door. "Emma, I've slept with worse. And anyway, we shouldn't be here for too long, a couple of nights at worst."

Emma murmured her agreement before changing the conversation. "After we've dropped off our bags, maybe we could go and find Robin?"

"Of course, but could we go to the bar first? That lady at reception has really left me in need of alcohol, and I'm sure that you aren't one to turn down a free drink."

Pushing open the door to their room, Emma nodded her agreement. "Sure, but I'm perfectly aware that the real reason that you need a drink is to calm your nerves before meeting Robin." Regina lowered her eyes as the two women dumped their bags on their respective sides of the bed. "Remember Regina, I know you."

Emma and Regina walked out of the room, listening to make sure that the door locked itself behind them. Once they were satisfied that the door was safely shut, they walked to the stairs in a comfortable silence. Regina remembered from the way in that the bar was only a short distance away, and soon they were both seated on a sofa with their drinks. She took a sip from the glass of cider in front of her, before starting up a conversation.

"So how are things with the pirate?"

Emma looked up from her lap, where she had been playing on her phone, surprised at the topic of choice. "Oh, um, we broke up. He was getting too clingy and I just wasn't feeling it anymore."

She sighed, picking up her drink. "When it doesn't feel right, I guess you just need to stop before someone ends up getting hurt."

Regina nodded, empathetic. "I've never been in that situation before, but I'd probably react as you did. You've done the right thing."

Emma smiled at Regina, thankful for the response that the former Evil Queen had provided. They remained in the sofas at the bar until they had both finished their drinks, before Regina had decided that it was now acceptable to go and find Robin. Emma stood up, smoothing out her jeans. She pointed at a pathway outside of the window. "The contact said that he'd be located in the casino, which is just along that path. As it's now the evening, my bet is that he's started his shift by now."

Regina followed Emma's outstretched hand, humming her agreement to the blonde's reasoning.

...

Once they had reached the casino, Emma ran her eyes across the crowd. There were plenty of people, but nobody looked like the one that they had gone to Las Vegas in search of.

"There's an information desk over there, perhaps they'll know if he's supposed to be working here today?" Regina queried, also noticing that the familiar thief was nowhere in sight. Emma nodded, and started walking towards the desk. Behind it was a man wearing a formal suit, who looked more like he should be running a business than a casino. She cleared her throat to gain the man's attention, and was met by a pleasant smile.

"Good evening Madame, how may I be of assistance to you?"

Emma returned the smile politely, before asking her question. "Is there a man called Robin Hood that works here? I've been looking for him and the only lead that I have at the moment is here."

The man picked up a clipboard, scanning his eyes across what Emma presumed to be a list of the staff that worked at the casino.

"There's nobody called Robin Hood that works here at present. There is a Robin Brown though, and there are also a couple of Robins that spell their names with a y."

The man looked up for Emma's reaction, and noticed that she was shaking her head dismissively. "There are also people who dress up as the Robin Hood from the fairytale, maybe they could be of more assistance than me?"

Emma thanked the man for his help, but any optimism that she had previously had over the lead had suddenly faded, as the realisation that she had obviously searched for a job vacancy on the internet sunk in. _Damn you Vegas, and your strange obsession with dressing people up._

Regina walked over to join Emma, a look of concern plastered across her face. "Was everything okay?"

Emma sighed. "No, not really. The lead I had found turned out to be correct... If you wanted to apply for a job to be dressed up as the forest guy."

Regina's face fell slightly, but she did not appear to be as upset as Emma had originally anticipated that she would be.

"Oh. Well at least you can say that you tried, I guess." She gave the blonde a faint smile. "Never mind, Miss Swan. He'll be out there somewhere."

Emma nodded, pleased that Regina was not angry at her futile attempt to return happiness to the older woman.

Regina's face suddenly lit up, as she had an idea. "Seeing as we're in Las Vegas and it's been a long day, why don't we get drunk? It'd be a good way of relaxing, and possibly forgetting that most of today happened."

Emma laughed at the suggestion. "I never thought that you'd be the one to suggest that we could get drunk, but of course I want to! Like you said earlier, I'm never one to turn down alcohol!"

...

An hour and seven tequila shots each later (Maybe more, neither of them were capable of counting afterwards), Emma and Regina found themselves in their room, intoxicated. Regina lay sprawled across the double bed like a starfish, while Emma sat cross legged on the floor underneath her, attempting to plait Regina's hair. They were playing a game of truth or dare, which had become side-tracked by Emma's insistence that they needed more alcohol.

"I want beeeeer!" she complained, banging her forehead against the mattress on the bed.

Regina giggled, patting Emma's hair. "Silly Swan, use the mini bar! And bring your queen some champagne, or I will curse you again!"

Emma rolled across the floor to the fridge on the other side of the room.

"You missed me the first time and you'll miss me again, I am the saviour and I am INVINCIBLE!"

Regina slid onto the floor in a heap, despite her best attempts to do it gracefully. "NOBODY IS SAFE FROM THE EVIL QUEEN!"

"Not even Henry?"

"Maybe Henry,"

"Or my mother?"

"Definitely not your God-forsaken, animal obsessed, dwarf loving imbecile of a mother."

Emma grinned playfully. "What about foooreeesssssttttt guuuuuyyyy?"

Regina thought about it for a second. "No, he doesn't love me,"

Emma stopped rolling and looked Regina in the eye. "'Gina, he does!"

"Maybe... But I don't think I love him,"

"Well even if you don't love him, he must love you! I mean, who wouldn't love... This?"

Emma indicated dramatically towards Regina's body. "The messy hair, the laddered tights, the panties on show..."

Regina blushed and moved around to cover her decency. She looked up at Emma, who was laughing at her.

"You're just so beautiful."

Regina's eyes widened, unsure as to whether Emma was being truthful. "Really?"

Emma nodded as a way of answering. Before she could object, Regina had cupped her face in her hands.

"You're beautiful too," she breathed, before moving her lips onto Emma's.

The kiss was gentle yet passionate, and although both women knew that it was sue to the extreme levels of intoxication that they were experiencing, they each felt a compelling urge to continue it. Whether it was because they were drunk or because it was something deeper from the beginning, neither woman was sure, but both of them felt the desire to continue. However, just as the indication that this could mean something occurred to Regina, an immense electric current ran through them both, forcing them apart.

"What was that?"

"The painful part or the fun part?" questioned Emma, with a suggestive eyebrow raise.

"The several hundred volts of electricity that just ran through me,"

"Oh... I don't know. Whatever, I think we need more tequila. I'm going back downstairs if you want to come with me."

Emma stood up and staggered to the door, closely followed by Regina. Neither woman was aware that Regina's red lipstick was smudged across both of their faces, or that there was a new lease of life in the way that they both appeared, despite their inability to walk straight. The door slammed shut as they walked out, only to be immediately opened again by Regina.

"Duuuude, what are you doing?" whined Emma, impatient for more alcohol.

"Getting a hairbrush, you told me that my hair was messy."

"Oh."

...

When Regina and Emma arrived back at the bar, they found that there had been an influx of people since they departed. There were hoards of women dressed in neon pink tutus and bras, all suitably drunk for a hen night. One woman was wearing a fancy dress style zombie wedding dress, with fake blood and rips all down the front. Emma looked at Regina.

"Fancy crashing a hen night?"

Regina grinned. "Normally I would say no, but as we're in Vegas we must do as people from Vegas do, and if that means crashing some poor woman's hen do then needs must I guess!"

The party didn't seem to mind their two gate crashers; instead they seemed to encourage them. Emma ended up in some sort of drinking competition, and managed to drink her opposition under the table, earning her cheers across the bar and a kiss on the cheek from Regina. As the night went on, the amount of alcohol consumed increased dramatically. The more alcohol Regina had, the more affectionate she got towards Emma, not that she minded or discouraged it. Towards the end of the night, the bride to be held a toast to all that had attended the hen party, and declared that the wedding was to be held in one of Vegas' many chapels the next day. She explained that her maid of honour was unable to be there due to illness, and that the spot was open, causing a riot amongst the party as to whom would step in. Emma stood thinking about a reasonable way of deciding this, until an idea hit her.

"Why don't you have a break dancing competition?"

The party erupted into cheers, and soon enough the competition was over. The bride took a while to decide who was the best, but eventually decided on Regina, even though she didn't even know her.

"The rules are rules, after all. The best dancer wins the position of my maid of honour!"

The party decided to have a look inside the chapel, as it was one of the many in Las Vegas that remained open all night, in case any late night revellers decided that they wanted to get hitched. They all stood outside, until the bride spoke up.

"So, should we go in?"

Emma nodded. "Sure, what's the worst thing that could happen?"


End file.
